This UPS driver wants to set the record straight about the pay rise — here are the numbers behind the company’s amazing pay increases

One TikTok user, who says he is a driver for UPS, is seeking to set the record straight about a pay rise promised to employees after the Teamsters union, which represents about 340,000 UPS workers, threatened a major strike.

The shipping giant reached an agreement with the union on July 25 that would increase compensation for UPS Teamsters, including delivery drivers. during Earnings callUPS CEO Carol Twomey said the average full-time driver will earn about $170,000 a year in salary and benefits by the end of the five-year contract.

This figure sparked a lot of discussion on social media, with some questioning whether delivery drivers should be given such a high amount.

do not miss

TikTok user Skyler Lee Stutzman, who says he’s a driver for the parcel company, took to the video-sharing platform to present his point of view of the new contract.

“$170,000 a year is kind of overkill,” he said in a video posted Aug. 11 that has been viewed nearly 15 million times and attracted more than 25,000 comments. “I will do my best to be transparent about the wages we are paid.”

That’s what Stutzman said about the initial UPS contract being voted on by union members.

do the math

In his current contract, Stutzman claims he earns $41.51 an hour. Under the new temporary work agreement — which can be ratified once voting ends Aug. 22 — he says his salary will rise to $44.26 an hour. He then multiplied that hourly wage by 2,080 hours (40 hours per week) to arrive at an annual wage of about $92,000.

Story continues

As per the Teamsters’ shared terms of contract, full-time employees will see a wage increase $2.75 an hour in 2023, mirroring Stutzman’s claim. Over the term of the contract, the total pay increases are $7.50 per hour.

The union says the deal will improve the average top rate for delivery drivers to $49 an hour. At that rate, working 40 hours a week would only pay you $102,000 annually.

“This does not include overtime,” Stutzman noted. “It’s also not the important part we’re missing here.

“One other thing that a lot of people don’t consider is our medical insurance and our pension.”

Read more: Americans spend a ridiculous $253 a month more on groceries. but This simple hack It can turn your stressful daily spending into a golden nest egg

He says UPS pays between $11 and $13 an hour in pensions for full-time employees. If the hourly pension contribution is $12 and is paid for 2,080 hours, that comes to an additional $24,960 per annum in pension contributions. For its part, UPS says so He contributes more than $23,000 per year Each pension plan has a full-time employee.

As for medical insuranceStutzman doesn’t give an estimate — but a survey commissioned by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that average annual premiums For employer-sponsored health insurance in 2022, it was $7,911 for individual coverage and $22,463 for family coverage.

“You can quickly see that it would actually take about $170,000 a year to replace this job for me,” Stutzman said.

He added that “while the media works to make it deeper than it already is”, he acknowledges that he works for “awesome” company.

Search for higher wages

The reason the Teamsters threatened to strike in the first place was him Improve interest and payment and to abolish the UPS two-tier pay system for part-time and full-time workers.

“We expected the negotiations with the Teamsters to be late and loud, and they were,” Tommy said during the earnings call, adding that UPS lowered its full-year revenue forecast to “primarily reflect the impact of volume resulting from business negotiations and associated costs per agreement in principle.”

The union said in a press release that the labor deal is “the largest private sector collective bargaining agreement in North America.”

In the week after the initial agreement was announced, the online job board saw searches with the words “UPS” or “United Parcel Service” in the job title. increase by more than 50%According to data obtained by Bloomberg.

do not miss

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.